Kealakehe’s trip to Oahu was a successful one. The Waveriders shook off a slow start and then pulled away from Pearl City before holding on for a 13-7 victory at the Chargers’ home field Saturday night.
For most of the night, it was a field position, defensive, slug-it-out affair. Strong defense at the very end got it done for the visitors.
“Our defense played a heckuva game,” first-year Waveriders coach Wyatt Nahale said. “They really stepped up for us.”
Kealakehe went up 13-0 in the third quarter, but the Chargers fought to within a touchdown at 13-7 in the fourth.
Herbert Hallers’ interception for Pearl City gave the hosts one more chance for the victory. With less than two minutes to go, however, the Waveriders’ Kristian Delima put an end to that effort with a sack of Chargers quarterback Thomas Puchert.
“I feel good about this game,” Pearl City coach Robin Kami said despite the close loss. “I thought it was a good, competitive game for four quarters and that’s how the game should be. At the end of the day, somebody has to win and somebody has to lose, but I thought everybody had a good time tonight.”
In the first half, Pearl City’s Landon Chang missed two field goals and Kealakehe’s Lopaka Acia missed one. With 13 seconds left before halftime, Kealakehe struck for a 6-0 lead when Sheynen-Wyatt Nahale threw a bullet to Hunter Wehrsig, who made a diving, over-the-shoulder catch for a 28-yard touchdown.
The visitors boosted the score to 13-0 in the third quarter on another pass play. This time, Nahale found Deven Wagner for a 28-yard touchdown.
But Pearl City, although it struggled on offense most of the night in what can best be described as a puntfest by both teams, came to life late in the game. Puchert hit Isaiah Cruz-Amerperosa for 40 yards and then passed to Joshua Gleason for 26. That led to Alii Gaspar’s 15-yard TD catch in which he made several cuts to elude tacklers.
“I thought we had a chance to wrap it up when we pinned them deep,” coach Nahale said. “But they made a great play and then that playmaker (Gaspar) got into the end zone. We were bending, bending, bending, and then that one series we gave it up. All in all, I’m proud of how we hung in there. On offense, we found a way to make it work.”
Wehrsig, who scored the game’s first TD, credited the coaching staff with preparing the players.
“We saw a mismatch on the backside and the coaches called that play because we needed a score,” he said about getting into the end zone to break the ice. “We have a whole new coaching staff and they’re really pushing us to try to change the program into something better than it was.”
Gaspar was pumped about the Chargers’ rally that ultimately fell short.
“I was super hyped,” he said. “I thought we were going to come back. I was telling my teammates, ‘Let’s go, let’s keep working, brah.’ We just needed to make one touchdown and (an extra point).”
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Kealakehe 13, Pearl City 7
At Pearl City High
>> Kealakehe (1-0) 0 6 7 0 — 13
>> Pearl City (0-1) 0 0 0 7 — 7
Kealakehe — Hunter Wehrsig 28 pass from Sheynen-Wyatt Nahale (kick failed)
Kealakehe — Deven Wagner 28 pass from Nahale (Lopaka Acia kick)
Pearl City — Alii Gaspar 15 pass from Adam Puchert (Landon Chang kick)
RUSHING — Kealakehe: Elijah Kahele 12-25, Raymond Skillern 8-6, .Nahale 6-6, Makana Mansas 2-(minus-4), TEAM 1-(minus-1). Pearl City: Raiden Pabo 4-17, Alii Gaspar 12-13, TEAM 2-(minus-9), Puchert 5-(minus-19).
PASSING — Kealakehe: Nahale 14-21-100. Pearl City: Puchert 9-24-1-130.
RECEIVING — Kealakehe: Wagner 4-46, Kahele 4-17, Wehrsig 2-34, Mansas 2-3, Malachi Lehmann 1-0, Skillern 1-0. Pearl City: Isaiah Cruz-Amerperosa 2-42, Joshua Gleason 2-38, Gaspar 2-35, Juan Vargas 2-12, Preston Hong 1-3.
Damien 38, No. 8 Lahainaluna 31, OT
The Monarchs erased a 24-point deficit in the second half to send the game into overtime and snapped the three-time defending Division II state champion Lunas’ 21-game winning streak.
Senior defensive back Kellen Robins-Beers intercepted a pass to seal the win after Damien quarterback Jake Holtz threw a 7-yard touchdown pass to Amo Sulu to give the Monarchs their first lead of the game in OT.
Joshua Tihada scored on TD runs of 30 and 36 yards and Derek Perez’s 26-yard TD run early in the third quarter put the Lunas ahead 31-7.
No. 10 ‘Iolani 47, KS-Hawaii 10
Senior quarterback Jonah Chong threw an 84-yard touchdown pass to Carter Kamana on ‘Iolani’s first offensive play of the season and the Raiders won their season opener for the 14th time in the past 15 years on Saturday on the Big Island.
Chong threw for 178 yards and three touchdowns but completed just five of his 13 throws.
Wailoa Manuel caught a 61-yard touchdown pass and Cole Ichikawa and Brock Hedani also had receiving TDs for the Raiders.
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No. 10 ‘Iolani 47, KS-Hawaii 10
At Kamehameha-Hawaii
>> ‘Iolani (1-0) 7 16 24 0 — 47
>> KS-Hawaii (0-1) 0 3 7 0 — 10
‘Iolani — Carter Kamana 84 pass from Jonah Chong (Wailoa Manuel kick)
‘Iolani — FG Manuel 35
‘Iolani — Chong 12 run (Manuel kick)
KS-Hawaii — FG Taylor Eckart 22
‘Iolani — Manuel 61 pass from Chong (pass failed)
‘Iolani — Cole Ichikawa 10 pass from Chong (Manuel kick)
‘Iolani — Brody Logan Bantolina 1 run (Mason Mizuta kick)
KS-Hawaii — Apu Alfiche 1 run (Eckart kick)
‘Iolani — Brock Hedani 26 pass from Sam Faumuina (Mizuta kick)
‘Iolani — FG Manuel 36
RUSHING — ‘Iolani: Bantolina 8-48, Hedani 10-40, Ichikawa 2-37, Chong 6-37, Faumuina 1-(minus 6), TEAM 1-(minus 2). KS-Hawaii: Austin Wilson 5-49, Alfiche 15-24, Isaiah Villanueva 2-15, Michael Perry 20-7.
PASSING — ‘Iolani: Chong 5-13-0-178, Faumuina 3-7-0-55. KS-Hawaii: Perry 13-30-1-122, Makoa Aurello 0-1-0-0.
RECEIVING — ‘Iolani: Manuel 2-89, Hedani 2-21, Kamana 1-84, Rexton Suzuki 1-15, Ryan Sunada 1-14, Ichikawa 1-10. KS-Hawaii: Aurello 5-51, Zeke Gravas 3-16, Alfiche 2-14, Austin Wilson 1-21, Keaton McCallum 1-16, Isaiah Villanueva 1-4.
